GREECE: Crane moves antiquity from Acropolis to new museum

Three large cranes transferred a 2.5 tonne sculpture belonging to the mantle of the Parthenon over rooftops to a newly built museum 400 metres below the Acropolis on Sunday (October 14). The operation was part of a plan to move more than 4,000 sculptures, statues and artifacts to the new museum. The task of moving the treasures is expected to take between six weeks and three months. Officials are moving only four crates a day and will have to stop for heavy rain or winds. The arifacts are being packaged in shock resistant foam to ensure they are not damaged after surviving the elements during their 2,500 year history. The entire project has been insured for 400 million euros. Chief engineer of the operation Kostas Zambas said the transfer went according to the plan despite high winds. He said if the winds had measured more than 5 on the Beaufort wind scale the transfer operation would have been postponed. "We had high winds, we were near the limit of where we say we will not carry out transfers - we say if it's above 5 Beaufort winds we will not do the transfer. We were just under that limit, so we completed the transfer but with a strong wind," he said. Replicas covered in symbolic veils will stand in the position of the Parthenon Marbles currently in the British Museum in London. Greece has been fighting for decades to bring back the sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, and hopes the new, safe display venue will add to pressure on Britain to return them. Culture Minister Michalis Liapis said the new museum is one that "protects, secures, preserves and displays the sculptures of the Parthenon with the best and safest method, with the result that it gives a new impetus to the request for the reunion of the Parthenon Marbles - a global request," The new museum of glass, marble and concrete will open at the end of 2008. It will house artifacts from a smaller, old museum, and other artifacts not previously displayed, as well as scores of antiquities found during the building of the new museum. The main floor of the museum has been topped with glass leaving the archaeological excavations below visible to visitors. The museum had suffered several years of delays due to political wrangles, residents' protests and archaeologists' concerns over antiquities buried beneath. Some residents also criticized the building as being too bulky for the neighbourhood and the style too modern in relation to the ancient site. U.S. architect Bernard Tschumi, said he chose a style as minimalist as possible despite arguments it should have an ancient look. "Some people said it should be built in the style of the Acropolis and I said there was no way you can match it, so on the opposite I tried to be as simple and minimalist as possible but putting emphasis on the concept, on the clear and precise concept of the project and the materials. There are only three main materials, concrete, glass and marble. And now with these we achieved a kind of precision which is very different from the form of the ancient Greek but very contemporary at the same time," he said. Protesters gathered outside the museum on Sunday after controversy erupted over two buildings hailed as a historical and architectural treasures which stand between the new museum and the Acropolis. Greece's Culture Ministry has signed a decree allowing the demolition of the buildings, to improve the view from the new museum up to the Parthenon. Protesters opposed to the demolition waved a banner reading, "Don't tear them down, we don't have many." One of the buildings earmarked for demolition is a 1930's art deco structure with sculptures and mosaics on its facade. The other is a neo-classical property owned by the Oscar-award winning composer Vangelis. This week Liapis said the decision on the demolition of the buildings stands.

ITN Source | October 15, 2007

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